Patel to defend aid budget as famine crisis spreads

The Guardian
Tracy McVeigh

Priti Patel has been critical of aid spending in the past, but has changed her tune after nine months as international development secretary. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The minister, who suggested in 2013 that the Department for International Development be scrapped, said the world was looking to Britain for leadership

Priti Patel, the international development secretary, will make her most robust defence of Britain’s aid spending on Monday when she announces an “intensifying” of efforts to tackle poverty and disease abroad.

In a speech that will be cautiously welcomed by those who feared her appointment last year risked a dismantling of the department and its work in the developing world, Patel will pledge her commitment to the UK’s humanitarian role. She will also call on leading aid charities to become more vocal at a “momentous” time, with the possibility of four major famines.

“I’ve been in this job for nearly nine months now and it’s never been clearer to me that at times of crisis the world looks to Britain … not just for our support but for our leadership,” she will say. “This leadership is underpinned by our commitment to overseas development, a commitment which allows us to move with unrivalled speed and scale when faced with the unprecedented humanitarian emergencies we’re seeing now.”

Patel will announce new support for smaller grassroots charities, not just through spending but also in access to expertise through a new arrangement with the Charities Commission.

The speech will be seen as a rebuke to backbenchers and other Department for International Development (DfID) critics who have campaigned for Britain to abandon its commitment to 0.7% of national income going on overseas aid.

Patel has been critical of aid spending in the past. In 2013, she was quoted as suggesting that the DfID be scrapped and last year she employed another critic, Robert Oxley from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, as special adviser. But she has since reportedly been impressed by the work she has seen, particularly by smaller charities which often have lower overheads and costs than giants such as Save the Children and Oxfam.

“Britain boasts an extraordinary number of small, grassroots charities who do amazing, often highly innovative work in the world’s poorest places,” she will say. “This government will continue to give all of you our strongest possible support. I want to harness your grassroots knowledge, local contacts and specialist expertise as we join forces in the battle against global poverty.”

To empower these smaller charities, the minister will announce the summer launch of a new Small Charities Challenge Fund, aimed specifically at UK-registered organisations with an annual income of less than £250,000 - the first time the Dfid has dedicated funding purely to charities of this size. There will also be practical help for smaller charities in their financial management, governance and transparency, with plans for a new partnership between the DfID and the Charity Commission.

Patel is expected to say: “I believe smaller organisations are a crucial part of the Great British offer on international development. Your organisations are found in every corner of the UK, often run by volunteers and highly valued and trusted by your local communities. And it is often your organisations that make some of the most direct connections with the people we’re trying to help and those wanting to help them. You are highly effective at building trust with local communities and tailoring your specialist services around people’s actual day-to-day needs.”

On the role of organisations in dealing with the current humanitarian crisis, Patel is expected to say: “I am lobbying other governments, the UN and international agencies on this at every opportunity, and I urge all of you to make your powerful voices heard – along with those of the groups you represent – to raise the visibility of these crises and call for greater global action.”

Alongside the department’s emergency work, she will say, “we cannot forget the more silent emergency of grinding poverty, misery and disease. Far too many millions of people around the world still lack access to the basics. I am personally committed to intensifying [the] DfID’s efforts to reach those furthest behind.“

She will also refer to neglected tropical diseases, TB and the growing threat of drug resistance, as well as disability, the empowerment of women and girls, and the DfID-hosted international summit to secure renewed global commitment to family planning services. This last area is causing concern in the light of President Trump’s “global gag” and cutbacks to USaid.

Charity Commission chairman William Shawcross said: “We are delighted to be working closely with [the] DfID on this project. British charities have a proud history in the delivery of overseas aid and development in dangerous places. Helping small and medium-sized charities deal with today’s huge risks is crucial. This work will be key in building capacity to ensure these charities can operate to the highest standards. We hope this project will lead to even deeper co-operation between us.”